Life Debts
by LunaLovegood'sNargles
Summary: A Harry Potter universe where Life Debts are not only accepted and enforced by society but by the laws of magic and the magical government. How will Harry's life at and outside of Hogwarts change as people start owing Harry their lives? Major book events still mostly the same, but will veer off into some strange territory after a while. LifeSaving!Harry


A/N: Alright so I'm writing this for National Novel Writing Month which is good for you guys because I have to update it every day! So if I don't update it daily I want you all to comment or PM me reminding me to update! I really need you're guys's support to make sure that I keep this up. Read and Enjoy!

When Harry was seven years old, he was in London with his cousin and Aunt. His Aunt was not paying attention to the road and was instead looking at a map, trying to figure out where they were in the streets of London. Without her knowledge, her precious son, Dudley started crossing a street without his mother, or the right or way.

Just as Dudley was about to get run over by a sixteen wheeler, Harry saw his cousin in mortal danger and quickly ran into the street, grabbing a hold of his much larger cousin and somehow making them both disappear and reappear on the sidewalk next to Petunia, who had yet to look up from the map.

This occurrence would not have mattered much, in the grand scheme of things, accept for the fact that Harry happened to be a Wizard, which meant that from that point on, everything in Harry's and the Dursley's lives would be very different.

*LD*

It was a much healthier, happier Harry that woke up the day of July 31st to the wonderful feeling of a soft bed under him and warm blanket over him, along with an actual room that he was sleeping in.

You see, after that random occurrence almost four years ago, everything had changed for Harry. Dudley had stopped beating him up, had even made his friends stop hurting Harry. Petunia and Vernon, for some unknown reason, had started feeding Harry three square meal a day, along with any snacks that he asked for. Harry no longer had to do all the cooking, cleaning, and gardening, he only did the chores that he offered to do, and maybe to most shocking of all these changes, Harry got his own room.

The moment Harry, Dudley, and Petunia had come home that fateful day four years ago, Harry had made his way to his cupboard under the stairs, only for his Aunt and Cousin to shout "NO!" at the exact same time. He had turned, confused, to see them looking as though they were in pain, before they looked up at them and Petunia quickly turned to Dudley and told him to clean out his second bedroom.

Dudley had readily agreed, before offering his own bedroom for Harry to stay in from now on. Petunia had paused for a moment, confusion written across her face, before nodding her consent at the idea.

Harry had been thoroughly confused at all of this, why was he suddenly getting a room, let a lone Dudley's room? It didn't make any sense. His relatives had been acting strange ever since he had stopped his cousin from getting run over.

Harry decided to speak up, supposing that the punishment for doing so wouldn't be as bad as the curiosity that would eat at him until he knew the answer. "Why am I getting a room?" Harry asked quietly.

Petunia and Dudley stopped making their ways upstairs and turned to him, confusion in both their eyes. They looked at each other, then back at him. "Well, you're getting a bit large for that awful cupboard, don't you think? Wouldn't you like your own room?" Petunia asked, an expression on her face that Harry did not recognize.

Now Harry was even more confused, of course he wanted his own room, but why did they just decide this all of the sudden? It couldn't be because he was too large for the cupboard, for he had been too large for it since he was three. Harry finally nodded his head in agreement with her question. "Yes, I do, but why Dudley's room?" Harry's childish voice asked, still so very confused.

"Harry dear, don't question it, just accept the gift, all right?" Petunia said more gently than she had ever spoken to him before, looking at him in desperation.

Harry just nodded dumbly, stuck on the fact that his Aunt had not only called him by his first name, which she hadn't done in private in living memory, and the fact that she had called him dear, which he knew for a fact she had never done before.

By the time Harry and Dudley were suppose to go to bed, all of Dudley's things had been moved out of Harry's new room, into Dudley's old second bedroom, the meager things that Harry had were moved from his cupboard to his new bedroom, Harry had received a larger meal for dinner than he could remember eating in his whole life, and he had a whole bed to sleep on.

Petunia had promised Harry that they would go shopping the next day for new clothing for Harry and some toys for him as well, she then kissed him on the forehead and wished him a good nights sleep. Harry had never been more confused.

Even Uncle Vernon had been nice to him when he got home from work. Harry hadn't been yelled at, hit, or told to do one chore, and he was kind of scared.

As Harry lay in bed, unable to sleep despite being more comfortable than he could remember ever being, he heard whispering coming from his Aunt and Uncles bedroom. Harry quietly got out of bed and tip toed to the door, opening it just enough to be able to hear the conversation happening just feet away from him.

"I don't know what it is, Vernon, but something changed today. The hate that I've always felt towards that boy for being what he is, it just...disappeared. One moment it was there, and the next moment, I looked up from the map I was reading, saw him, and felt only gratitude and joy from seeing him. It's obvious the boy-Harry, has no idea either, he didn't do anything with his, you know, he's just as confused as we are." His Aunts whispering voice carried in the silent house, allowing Harry to hear every word spoken.

"I felt the same way, Pet. While I was at work, any time I thought of the frea-" His voice cut off and Harry heard his Uncle gasping for breath as though in pain before he continued breathlessly. "HARRY, I felt rage, just as I always do, but once I laid eyes on him when I came home, I felt horrible, like everything I'd ever done to him was just now attacking my conscience. And Dudley seems to feel the same way, if not as strongly considering he's hardly done anything to Th-Harry. Even through all of this though, I still can't believe he freely offered his own bedroom."

There was a murmur of agreement from Petunia before they both bell silent in thought. "Something had to have happened, and it must have been something Harry either did unknowingly, or didn't do at all. We can ask Dudley about it tomorrow morning. Let's go to sleep now."

Harry quietly made his way back to his bed, more confused than ever. What were they talking about, how could he have anything to do with their change in feelings towards him? Harry couldn't stop thinking about this and it was quite a while before he was able to fall asleep.

*LD*

From that point on Harry's life had been amazing, especially in comparison to what it had been before. His Aunt and Uncle now saw Harry as a second son, and Harry looked at them as parents, although he couldn't stop himself from remembering the six years before that day, he never told them this but he was never able to quite forgive them for treating him as less than human for the majority of his life at Privet Drive.

Dudley on the other hand, was a totally different story. Harry and Dudley had become the best of friends. With Harry's influence Dudley had been able to work off most of his fat so he was now a much healthier boy than he had been a few years ago. Dudley stopped hanging out with his old friends, and he and Harry had made a new group of friends that they hung out with almost every day.

With his relatives support, Harry had been allowed to actually work hard in school, instead of slacking so that he did worse than Dudley, and he had skipped third grade, a fact which both excited and depressed Harry and Dudley because they wanted to stay together, but Dudley was never angry or jealous of Harry, always just happy to see him succeed, plus by the time Dudley got to learn something in class Harry could help teach it to him because he already knew it.

All together, Harry was a very happy boy, to so when he woke up on his eleventh birthday, he couldn't help but smile knowing what was likely to occur today. Harry's birthdays since That Day, consisted of birthday cakes, presents, hug and kisses, and adventures with his family! He loved his birthday more than anything, not because it was all about him, but because he got to spend all day with his (now) loving family.

Harry slowly got out of bed and got dressed, making his way downstairs, the smell of breakfast wafting from the kitchen, enticing him.

"Good morning Auntie!" Harry said excitedly. He had been calling his Aunt "Auntie" for three years now, it just felt wrong to call this woman "Aunt Petunia" because she felt like a totally different woman than the one he'd known before That Day. He was too old to start calling her "Mom" but Auntie had just felt right the first time he'd called her that, and she'd smiled so brightly when he'd done it, he decided he would never stop.

"Well if it isn't the Birthday Boy! Happy Birthday Harry, Darling, sit down and have some breakfast, I've made your favorite!" After hugging and kissing him all over his face, she pushed him towards the breakfast table and placed a gigantic cinnamon roll in front of him. If Harry was being completely honest, it was probably about the size of his face, which he would test, but he knew his aunt would admonish him for it, so decided against it.

Harry had discovered cinnamon rolls one beautiful December morning, a week before Christmas, his family had all gone out for Brunch one morning before going Christmas shopping, and Harry had smelled the beautiful cinnamon scent from half a mile away. He had ordered it and had been hooked ever since. Petunia had made him Cinnamon rolls for his birthday every year since then and it was one of the things he looked forward to most on this day.

"Thanks, Auntie, your Cinnamon rolls are the best!" Harry said, smiling widely at her before tearing into his breakfast with a passion.

Harry was about half way through his roll when his Uncle and Dudley came down stairs looking sleepy but excited for the day ahead. Vernon walked over to Harry and patted him on the head before saying, "Happy Birthday, Sport, so what's the plan for the day?" Before Harry could answer him, Dudley gave a cry and ran towards Harry, jumping on him, and knocking him off his chair, tackling him to the ground.

"Ahh! Dudley!" Harry screamed and laughed breathlessly. This was also a tradition that had started three years ago, Dudley had, for some unknown reason, decided to tackle Harry to the ground when he saw him on his birthday, and had continued to do it ever since. Harry returned the favor on Dudley's birthday, or course.

Although Dudley had lost the majority of his weight over the years, he was still quit a few pounds heavier than Harry, who would probably always be just a little bit smaller than he could have been because of his first six years here. He had, however, had a large growth spirt last year and was now almost as tall as Dudley. Harry was finally able to push Dudley off of him and get up off the floor, gasping for air after the difficult endeavor. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Dudley finally said, after getting up off the floor and gasping from laughter.

"Thanks, D!" Dudley was going through a phase where he had decided he didn't like his name and had asked all of his friends to call him "D" for a reason unknown to the eleven year olds, Petunia and Vernon found it rather amusing when Dudley would randomly shout out "I'm the D!" while with his friends. Harry and Dudley had asked the two about it multiple times, but they had never received any more than a "You'll understand when you're older" from them, and more quiet chuckles to each other.

"Since you were so distracted by being tackled to the floor, yet again, I'll ask again. What's the plan for today?" Vernon asked again, looking fondly at Harry and Dudley.

Harry thought for a second, then remembered what he had been panning yesterday. "Can we-" He was interrupted by the sound of the mail slot opening and mail being pushed through it before falling to the floor.

Before Harry could even volunteer to get the mail, Dudley hopped up from his chair, screamed "I'll get it!" and ran to the door, the sound of his family laughing at him trailing behind him.

Harry had regularly received a few birthday cards from friends who were on vacation with their families for the last few years, and so was expecting at least a few of those, so when Dudley came back into the kitchen and held out a couple of envelopes for him, it wasn't a strange occurrence. What was a strange occurrence was the first letter in the pile that had no return address on it but simple stated

Mr. H Potter

The Middle Bedroom

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

The words were written in green calligraphy, and the paper was much thicker than normal paper, with a strange consistency to it. Harry turned it over to find the envelope sealed with a strange red wax seal. Harry knew you weren't suppose to open mail from strangers, so instead he looked up at his Aunt and Uncle who were looking over their own mail. "Uncle, Auntie, I have a strange letter and I don't know who it's from."

His Aunt and Uncle looked up at him then turned to look at each other, giving a nod to one another before turning back to Harry. His Aunt said in a quiet, unsteady voice, "Open it Dear, I think we know what it is."

Harry nodded, confused, but did as he was told and opened the letter carefully. Inside was a letter written on the same type of strange paper as the envelope, with the same calligraphy. Harry carefully read through the letter before looking up at his Aunt and Uncle, who had yet to take their eyes off of him, in confusion. "Is this a joke? Some kind of birthday prank?" Harry asked, not knowing what else to say. It couldn't possibly be real, of course, but why was someone trying to prank him with something so obviously fake?

"No Harry, Dear...it's real." Petunia stated slowly, as if trying to convince herself as much as Harry.

"But it can't be, Auntie! Magic! Witches and Wizards! And who would actually name a school Hogwarts?! It makes no sense!" Harry decided to stop talking when he realized his Uncle was becoming redder with every word he spoke.

Uncle Vernon had never liked Magic. After That Day, he had become more accepting of the word "Magic" and Harry and Dudley playing wizard in the house, but he had never liked it, it had always made him uncomfortable, no matter how much he tried to accept it, he just like normalcy too much. But Vernon had known for a long time that this was going to be a part of his families lives at some point, and he had to accept it. He took a deep breath and could almost feel his face becoming more and more normal colored.

"It's true, Sport, you're a-a Wizard, and you're going to go to this school to learn how to control your m-m-magic." Vernon finally finished his sentence, hoping he would never have to say those words again. He loved Harry, he really did, but he just did not think he could ever truly accept magic.

"But I don't want to go away! I love it here, I love you guys! All of my friends are here!" Harry shouted, jumping up from his chair and running out of the kitchen and up the stairs, they could all here his door slam shut. Dudley stood up too and gave his parent scathing looks before turning without a word and following his cousin up the stairs.

"Well, that didn't go as expected." Vernon said turning to Petunia who gave a short hiccupy giggle, tears running down her face.


End file.
